What does it mean to decolonise – and how does that look for the design community at large?
In June 2020, Google search results spiked with individuals searching for the term decolonise. Activists were calling for the system to be dismantled. Businesses, companies, universities and more began adopting the language and people began to take notice. However as the term hit the mainstream, some argued that the increasing use of the term led to it being watered down.
Tuck and Yang warned of this trend with their joint piece from 2004, Decolonization is not a metaphor, making a clear argument that the word was being co-opted by other groups and used to describe other, perhaps worthwhile, initiatives that were not in fact related to decolonisation at all. How can designers grapple with these concepts and know how to respond or as Noel writes, “how to move beyond criticism to a substantial transformation in our practices?” What can we do in our daily lives and design careers to shift the system? This is what a group of designers and fellows set out to explore.
In October 2020, Vanessa Dewey hosted a virtual salon with RSA US board chair Ric Grefé and Dori Tunstall, Joanna Choukeir and Agustín G. Garza. The topic of discussion? Decolonising design after Covid-19. Watch the video of the full event on this page.
There was huge interest off the back of the event from Fellows, design practitioners and educators around the globe who wanted more space to discuss this activity and learn from each other.
Jadalia Britto and Vanessa, collaborated to create the Decolonising Design Coalition, a group of designers across the globe committed to sourcing, synthesising, and amplifying a global set of principles that can be used to decolonise the design ethos of different cultural, institutional, professional contexts. They are not experts but willing practitioners and are open to learning.
The group began meeting in 2021, facilitated by the RSA US. As global members from different contexts, they were struck by how different the work of decolonising could be dependent on where people were situated. Defining what decolonising design meant, how to do it and how you begin is not a straightforward exercise. The group have agreed there is not one way to do this work as this will shift across locations, sectors, and geographies. However, the group felt that creating space for individuals to share the actions they were beginning to take, the resources they found valuable and spreading learnings would be the best way to create seeds of change in multiple places.
In June 2022, two members of the coalition, Vanessa Dewey chaired a second public event, this time held at RSA House in London, UK. Here, Ve shared some of the group’s thinking as well as invited other members* of the design community to share how their work was aimed at shifting the system, even if they were not specifically working to decolonise.
Here are some of the captured perspectives from their work to date:
George Aye of Greater Good Studio spoke of the importance of developing ethics in the world of social design.
Rodrigo Bautista is a member of the Decolonising Design Coalition and a Systemic Designer based across the United States of America and Mexico.
Sarah Campbell is the Associate Director for Arts and Culture at the University of Exeter and works with a wider group of educators on decolonising work in the higher education space.
Sarah was the third panellist expected to speak but she was unfortunately unable to attend due to Covid-19. These reflections were sent over as part of her speaking notes.
The speakers took time to answer the questions of those who had gathered and discuss the difficulty of knowing how to do this well. An overarching theme of the event and the questions was the huge amount of work yet to be done.
With so much work to be done to tackle racism, gender inequality, transphobia and more, can we really be ready to decolonise? However, multiple scholars, activists and authors have argued that in fact – one cannot happen without the other. To achieve justice in society in these arenas, decolonisation must be part of the work and understood as a root cause in these challenges. As we work on chipping away at different elements of this, we are enabling the new world to emerge.
The coalition is actively looking for examples of this decolonising work happening globally, if you are interested in sharing some or finding out more about the coalition you can fill out their contact form that gives your consent to be contacted by the Decolonisation Design Coalition team and hear more about upcoming events.
RSA US is accepting applications for their Operations Lead role through April 30, 2023.
RSA Fellow Sean Kline rejoins the staff at RSA US as their new Future of Work Director.
The Decolonizing Design Coalition is proud to present the eleven creatives and designers that have volunteered as Coalition Members.
